There’s a new beloved Star Wars droid on the street and its name is BB-8. The spherical rolling robot rocked fans when it made its debut in the first Star Wars: The Force Awakens teaser. Word got out out that it was actually a practical design instead of a computer-generated creation, but that was all confirmed over the weekend during Star Wars Celebration when BB-8 rolled out on stage in front of the assembled crowd both in house and watching online.
The idea for BB-8 came after Bob Iger saw a phone-controlled toy called Sphero and thought it could be integrated into the world of Star Wars. With the addition of a magnetically attached head piece, you’ve got yourself a pretty adorable robot. Industrial designer and Make: contributor Chris Poulsen was intrigued by the design and decided to create his own using a Sphero, magnets and his 3D design skills.
The process, which Poulsen tackled in a single day, involved slicing open a Sphero 1.0, inserting a magnet, designing and fabricating the head piece out of foam, painting the pieces and adding felt and a magnet to the head. Here’s how the finished product looks.
Though Poulsen said that the main Sphero piece is controlled by a Bluetooth, the added top piece makes it a bit less predictable than usual. “Because it’s now more top-heavy and tends to lean,” he wrote, “the gyroscope will try to correct the lean, and it will keep on rolling in whatever direction it’s pushed.”
Disney applied for a patent for what’s officially called the Magnetic spherical balancing robot drive back on March 17, 2010 and officially received it on Sept. 18, 2012. Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on Dec. 18. Don’t be surprised if you see official Sphero BB-8’s around that time too.
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